Decision details

To ask Cabinet for approval to Submit an Outline Planning application for the land at Stoke Mandeville.

The former Bucks CC Sports and Social Club was located off Lower Road in Stoke Mandeville.  It was approximately 3.7 hectares in size. The Site currently comprised a closed club house surrounded by open land which had formerly been used as sports pitches and tennis courts. The former Sports and Social Club Land had remained unused for some years and as it currently stood represented a drain on the Council’s resources in ensuring public safety while enforcing security.

The proposal was for the demolition of all existing structures and the Outline Planning Application set the scene for the future development in seeking consent for the construction of up to approximately 100 residential units with a re-provision for open space for day-to-day use and includes the LPA’s statutory requirement that 30% of that number be affordable accommodation. Consent was also sought for improving the main access road and extending the main estate road to provide Booker Park School with a second vehicular access point that would greatly relieve congestion adjacent to the existing school entrance.

The scheme had been revised following pre-app advice and then again following consultation with Stoke Mandeville Parish Council and SMPC’s retained architects. There would likely be further detailed refinements, but the hope was that the quantum of development was now fairly settled.  The specific uses of the residential units were not referenced in this application as they would be dealt with as reserved matters once the mix of accommodation was agreed.

The Stoke Mandeville site was also identified as the preferred location for a new primary electricity substation which was part of Bucks Council’s HIF investment programme and was targeted to bring in substantial HIF funding, that would hugely benefit the Council and Buckinghamshire residents and supported the future growth of Aylesbury by alleviating any existing grid capacity constraints. A separate planning application would be submitted soon by UK Power Networks.

An Outline Planning Application was intended to preserve the flexibility of future design and composition of the development and represents a good opportunity to provide mainly affordable and key worker homes in an ideal location due to the proximity with Stoke Mandeville Hospital.  This same specific location provided a rare prospect to include a provision for bespoke and adaptable housing for the special exigent needs of clients of both adults and children’s services.

RESOLVED –

That approval to submit an Outline Planning Application for the proposed residential development at the site of the former Buckinghamshire County Council Community Sports and Social Club land be AGREED.

·                    The proposed Outline Planning Application would set out the proposed number of accommodation units, the proportion of affordable housing, the provision of a sports and leisure area for community and school use, an expanded access road and a new road link to Booker Park School.  It was not proposed to consider the detail of accommodation. This would be dealt with as reserved matters.

·                    There was insufficient information available at this point to decide on the mix and proportion of different proposed uses.  This would be the subject of a business case that would be drafted through consultation with relevant services and submitted for a future decision.

·                    Submitting an early outline planning application would enable the application to be considered ahead of or together with, the emerging Stoke Mandeville Local Area Neighbourhood Plan.

Other options considered were detailed at Section 3 of the Cabinet report.